Farewell, Riley

I tried to do this last night, but the limerick wouldn't come. I think part of me really didn't want to write this post, because now I have to really admit that Riley has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. He was far too young to leave. Riley and Tiki were born in a friend's garage on May 23, 2006 and joined their forever family 6 1/2 weeks later. Kesey, the dog, welcomed them. That's Kesey's pink pig that Riley is with in the photo. It's Kesey's favorite toy and he used to bring it to Riley sometimes. See, Riley loved his sister Tiki and his Mom and Dad, but he adored Kesey and Kesey adored him. Riley gave Kesey kitty kisses every day and Kesey sometimes gave Riley a bath. They played chase very often. I told Riley's story and wrote him a limerick here. The main thing that has happened to Riley since I wrote his story is that he discovered the joys of strollering. He got to go out whenever Kesey went for a walk. When the magic word "walk" was uttered, Kesey ran to his leash and Riley ran to his stroller. Tiki hasn't yet wanted to get in the stroller. Now comes the really hard part. Riley seemed to be having a little trouble breathing, so his Mom and Dad took him to the vet, thinking he had a kitty cold. The vet didn't like the sounds he was hearing from Riley's chest and kept him overnight for observation and tests. The next day, the vet decided that Riley had a lot of fluid in his chest and was inserting a drain when Riley's heart stopped. The vet got it going again, but by that time Riley had no brain function, so they let him go to the Rainbow Bridge. They vet now thinks that there was more in Riley's chest cavity than fluids, probably lymphoma, which could have been crowding his lungs and heart. This is terrible. Riley was such a loving cat, full of mischief and enthusiasm. He is leaving a huge empty space in his family.

                                      Riley was such a lover boy
                                      He filled the entire house with joy.
                                            The very air was fraught
                                            With the laughter he brought.
                                      Oh, how he'll be missed, this marvelous boy!